


As Long as You Come Back to Me

by Astronomic



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, a 'what if' fic, all i can seem to write for fairy tail is rewrites???
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-01-31 09:58:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12679560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astronomic/pseuds/Astronomic
Summary: Lucy learns of a Lost Magic called Demon Tamer, said to take demon under control of the caster. With threats of Zeref and E.N.D looming in the distant future, Lucy thinks it'd be a good idea to study the ancient spell - just in case.





	As Long as You Come Back to Me

Chapter 1

The scrape of a wooden chair against the floor broke Lucy out of her trance. She realized she had been sitting at the library table, pen in hand, staring blankly at the lined paper while her mind had drifted elsewhere. She let out a sharp sigh, placing the pen between the fold in her notebook.

Lucy’s thoughts had once again began spiraling around Fairy Tail and the well-being of her scattered friends. It’s been four months since Fairy Tail disbanded, and although Lucy was fortunate enough to be employed under the  _ Weekly Sorcerer _ , her hectic schedule meant no time to pen a letter to her friends, let alone try to find any of them. Not like she would have the courage to face them anyway.

Lucy absentmindedly picked at the corner of her notebook. She knew for certain Wendy joined Lamia Scale and teamed up with Cheria. Of all her ex-guildmates, Lucy was relieved Wendy was being well-cared for. Levy and Gajeel had been poking around the Council, last she heard, and Erza had been off Lucy’s radar for a month now. It was possible Gray and Juvia were still together, but there’d been no sightings of them in over two months, and as per usual, there was absolutely no word on Nats-

The corner of the page ripped off between Lucy’s fingers. Her mouth twisted downward as she flicked the scrap away and leaned back against the chair. The harsh fluorescent lights above did nothing to help her mood. Her nails drummed restlessly against the wooden table, which earned an irritated glance from her tablemate a few seats down.

It always came to this. Worrying about her friends was half the reason Lucy threw herself into work so much. Whenever she had a moment to herself, all she could do was sit and think, which did nothing but stress her out. Not to mention the issue with Zeref and Acnologia and impending doom had still yet to be addressed.

Lucy’s fingers stopped drumming. There was also E.N.D to worry about. The elusive mother-of-all, harbinger of death demon. Zeref’s perfect creation. For the past four months, Lucy had been scouring every library, collecting all the information she could about the Dark Wizard and his stupid books, but there was absolutely nothing on E.N.D. She wasn’t sure if it was relieving or terrifying but it was certainly unhelpful. They had been so at a loss with Tartaros, how could they possibly stand a chance against something they knew nothing about? Lucy’s knee started bouncing. They were so fucking unprepared and it didn’t help at all that the whole damn guild was disbanded and Lucy didn’t have any way to contact Nat-

Lucy stood a little too harshly and almost knocked her chair over. Her tablemate flinched in surprise, throwing another look her way, but Lucy was already gone, her feet carrying her away from the sitting area and towards the maze of bookshelves.

With newfound determination, Lucy power-walked through the aisles, eyes skimming the rows of book spines. This was the Library of Crocus, after all. There had to be  _ something _ of use here. Something… outside the box. Something she hadn’t thought of yet. Maybe attacking Zeref as a subject head on was the problem. There may be some roundabout way to find an answer.

Book titles flashed by as she sped past. Lucy had no direction at this point, she just followed the path of the bookshelves until something jumped out at her. No plan just action, that’s how he always did it, right?

Pink hair and green eyes skipped across Lucy’s mind, and she grit her teeth, mentally slamming the proverbial door on that subject. It never helped to think of him and now wasn’t the time.

Zeref. Zeref. Zeref. There had to be something to use against Zeref. The books changed from their colourful prints and lacquered spines to material covers and yellowed pages as Lucy stepped into the deepest recesses of the History section. History was good. History is old, Zeref is old. Famous Mages. A Brief History of Magic. Spells and their Creation. The Origins of Magic. Lost Magic.

Lucy stopped walking.

Lost Magic.

The gold lettering stood bold against the green covering. She stood, unflinching and unblinking, reading the two words over and over again.

Lost Magic was incredibly powerful, but Zeref was as old as most of those spells. Surely something from his time would have no effect? And yet, Lucy pulled the book from the shelf. The pages were stiff and the spine crackled under her touch. The ink and writing varied from page to page, suggesting a collection of works. There had to be something here.

_ A roundabout way, outside the box _ .

Half-way through the book, Lucy’s eyes fell on two words that seemed to rip the breath from her lungs.

_ Demon Tamer. _

Lucy’s hands trembled so much she could hardly hold the book still to read the definition underneath.

_ Demon Tamer - a type of controlling magic that takes demons and other demonic entities under the control of the wielder. _

And that was it. That was it?

Lucy’s heart stuttered in her chest as she read over the page again and again, as if worried she was missing something. No fucking way that was it. Lucy found herself flicking through the book with reckless abandon and no care for the aged pages.

Of course this would happen. The universe teased her with something worthwhile, something that may give them a leg up in this war, but denied her the whole truth. Hot tears stung her eyes as Lucy forcefully shoved the book back into its slot. She slapped a hand over her mouth to try and stop the building sob from slipping through, but it was no use.

Back against the bookshelf, Lucy slid down until she hit the floor, the edges of books digging into her spine. It’s just how it always was: more questions than answers and high hopes falling hard. All she wanted was to feel like she had something to contribute. Lucy knew she was strong, but she wanted to be on Gray and Erza’s level.

On Natsu’s level.

Lucy pressed her head to her knees as his name came to her mind. Usually, she kept her thoughts on him to the privacy of her bedroom and the peace of nightfall, when she was alone. Not during the day, and definitely not during a breakdown in a public space.

She missed him. She missed him so much, especially at time like this because he always knew what to say. His endless positivity would chase away any darkness eating away at her. And all he had to do was say something stupid like “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out!” and that would be enough. And Lucy hated that she couldn’t say it to herself. She hated that she wanted him - no,  _ needed _ him - to be there and say it for her.

Lucy sucked in a deep breath and wiped the back of her hand across her cheek. Crying about it wasn’t going to bring Natsu back any faster. And it wasn’t going to fix The Zeref Problem either. Using the bookshelf, Lucy pulled herself up and straightened her skirt.

Be positive. She now knew that this spell called Demon Tamer existed, and if she could find out how to learn it, they may be able to use E.N.D against Zeref. Maybe even Acnologia. A demon that powerful on their side would tip the scale in their favour, and they were due for a Win.

-

Lucy trudged after Jason through the halls of the Domus Flau towards the reporters section. Sunlight blurred her vision and the cacophonous roar of the thousands of fans pressed heavy against her ears.

She sighed through her nose, shoulders dropping as she watched the arena down below. It was the time of the annual magic festival, the Grand Magic Games, and the very last fight was about to begin. 

The past eight months showed no fruition for Lucy’s efforts. On her days off, when she wasn’t gathering intel on her friends, Lucy was dissecting every library in Crocus for books on Lost Magic, but nothing had any information on Demon Tamer. In fact she hadn’t even come across those words again, aside from the book back in the LoC. Lucy was beginning to think Demon Tamer didn’t even exist and she had just hallucinated it in some weird mid-day pipe dream.

Her pen tapped against the stone ledge absently instead of scribbling down notes for the future report. All throughout the tournament, Lucy had been trying to trick herself into having fun, but on the last day, she just didn’t have it in her anymore. The games were lackluster and formulaic, with Dullahan Head winning nearly every match, but she had seen through Skull Milione’s ploy to hold back until the very end. The Grand Magic Games were always a source of escapism, but this frivolity isn’t what she needed right now. Answers, reassurance, a sign. Maybe even a little hope too. That’s what she needed.

And of course, that’s when her fire-breathing, pink-haired bastard decided to make his epic return.


End file.
